Waila! Making the People Happy

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Program
Waila! Making the People Happy
Producing Organization
Hokan Media Productions
Contributing Organization
WHUT (Washington, District of Columbia)
AAPB ID
cpb-aacip/293-38w9gnn9
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Description
Description
Waila music comes from the Tohono O'odham, the native people of the Sonoran desert and the largest Indian tribe of southern Arizona. Waila (pronounced why-la) is an O'odham word that comes from the Spanish word "baile," which means "to dance." There are no words to waila music -- it is only instrumental, and is played on a button accordion, alto saxophone, electric six-string and bass guitars, and drums. Waila began from the music of early fiddle bands that adapted European and Mexican tunes heard in northern Sonora. The dances performed in the waila tradition are the waila (which is similar to a polka), the chote (based on a folk dance from Scotland or Germany), and the mazurka (based on a Polish folk dance). Regardless of the beat, all waila dances are performed while moving around the floor in a counterclockwise direction.
Asset type
Program
Topics
Music
Education
Subjects
Music: Waila
Rights
Release 03/29/2009 - 03/28/2013, unlimited airs, Yes to School Rights, SCH/ 1 YEAR; NCC; VOD
Media type
Moving Image
Credits
Producing Organization: Hokan Media Productions
AAPB Contributor Holdings
WHUT-TV (Howard University Television)
Identifier: (unknown)
Format: Betacam: SP
Generation: Master
Duration: 00:26:46?
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Citations
Chicago: “Waila! Making the People Happy,” WHUT, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed April 19, 2026, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-293-38w9gnn9.
MLA: “Waila! Making the People Happy.” WHUT, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. April 19, 2026. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-293-38w9gnn9>.
APA: Waila! Making the People Happy. Boston, MA: WHUT, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-293-38w9gnn9